I'm Done
by elsiecarson
Summary: Richard confronts Hyacinth about how she never listens to him. Does she admit that they have a problem or does she deny it? What is Richard's solution to the problem?


"We need to talk." Richard says entering the kitchen one morning. Hyacinth is standing at the sink washing her tea cup.

"That's nice, dear." Hyacinth says absentmindedly not having heard a word Richard just said to her. She doesn't usually listen, at least not fully.

Richard can feel his anger boiling just beneath the surface. He walks over to his wife and grasps her upper arms. He spins his wife around to face him. "You will listen to me for once. I'm tired of you not paying attention to me."

Hyacinth is stunned at her husband's behaviour. Her eyes are wide open and unblinking as she watches Richard carefully. She can hardly speak his actions are so uncharacteristic. She nods her head and stands stalk still. She's waiting for Richard to say something else.

"If this relationship doesn't change soon I'm either going to go crazy or I'm going to leave. I can't stand being ignored anymore."Richard explains with his hands still clutching Hyacinth's arms.

"I don't ignore you, Richard. Or at least I try not to ignore you." Hyacinth is surprised at Richard's concern.

"Alright, you don't totally ignore me, but you certainly don't listen to me. Do you know how that makes me feel when I know you're not paying attention? I know I never talk about my feelings, but I'm done hiding my feelings from you. Enough is enough." Richard says firmly.

"I listen to you Richard! I swear!" Hyacinth protests.

"You had no idea what I said when I entered the kitchen this morning. It's always like that and I can't take it anymore. I listen to every word you say whether it's directed at me or not and for once in my life I would like the same respect from you that I show you each and every day." Richard is not backing down anymore. He is finally going to have some power in this relationship.

Hyacinth can't even look at Richard anymore. She drops her eyes and looks at the floor. "I never wanted you to feel like I didn't care. I don't know when all this stopped being enough and why I didn't say anything. When did being just you and I stop being everything I wanted?"

"I just want to be heard every now and then. I'm not asking for the world, but a little more consideration from you would be nice. I can't live my life being ignored." Richard's voice drops low and for the first time he realizes how much this situation in their relationship has affected Hyacinth as well. He didn't think it had affected her at all. She always seemed fine with the way they were with each other.

"I can't live my life with you hating me either. Don't try to pretend that you don't, I see it in your eyes sometimes. You hate the way I behave towards you. Neither of us are being very considerate, but we're holding all our emotions in instead of letting them out at each other every once in a while and now it's all come to this. Now we don't say anything of importance at all anymore. It's unnerving. I need to know that I'm a part of your world. I don't want to feel as if you could do without me in your life." Hyacinth whispers as tears begin to fall from her eyes. Normally she's much calmer than this.

"Hyacinth I would never have asked you to marry me if I thought I could do without you. I never gave up on the relationship, but I think we both stopped putting work into our relationship the way we did when we were young. We were so in love once and I'd love to be that way again. We can fix this. I just didn't think you realized this was broken. I thought you were living in a dream world and I was pretending everything was alright between us because I didn't know what else to do with you. I can't live that way anymore." Richard says seriously. He reaches out and wipes her tears away, but they keep coming. He hates to make her upset, but if she doesn't listen then he has to figure out a way to be heard. He hopes she's truly listening now. He gives her his handkerchief.

"I wasn't living in a dream world. I just didn't know how to fix what was happening. I still don't really. I don't know how we're going to change this. I just know we have to try." Hyacinth blows her nose loudly.


End file.
